April 2018: Kevin Drew

Kevin Drew is a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge. He is a fourth-year student at Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry in California. Currently, he is completing his last clinical rotation at Harper’s Point Eye Associates in Cincinnati, Ohio where he is advancing his clinical skills in glaucoma and dry eye treatment. Kevin has served in multiple leadership roles during his time at WesternU and has thoroughly enjoyed every moment. As Co-President of the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association club, he promoted the importance of optometry in treating traumatic brain injury in patients. He also contributed two years as Class Secretary and served as Vice President of Beta Sigma Kappa Optometric Honor Society. Last year, he competed and won the WUCO Student Bowl and subsequently went on to compete at American Optometric Student Association’s 2017 Essilor Optometry Student Bowl in DC. Kevin has a firm belief in humanism and has dedicated his time to numerous Lions Club vision screenings in the Southern California region.

Despite the demands of clinical rotations, Kevin finds time to spend with his wife. They enjoy running together, watching Netflix shows and traveling. They’ve spent the last year traveling from California to Pennsylvania to New Hampshire to Orlando to Cincinnati for Kevin’s fourth year externships! They will be returning to Northern Alberta this year after his graduation, where Kevin plans on establishing himself in the beginning of his career. He believes that there is a tremendous need for optometric care in the Northern Alberta region, only a two-hour drive south of the Northwest Territories!

Kevin was fortunate enough to complete one of his rotations at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, where he worked alongside knowledgeable optometrists who have been fitting RGP and scleral lenses for several years. Kevin hopes to utilize these skills in future practice. One of his long-term goals is to begin completing mission trips to other countries in order to provide eye care to under-served populations. He is extremely grateful and happy that he chose optometry as his profession and is looking forward to practicing on his own in the next few months.